As António Guterres approaches the end of his second, five-year term as United Nations secretary-general at the end of 2026, the Trump administration is willing to discard tradition and consider candidates from any part of the world for the global body’s top role, Dorothy Shea, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Friday at a U.N. Security Council session.

“The next secretary-general should reject initiatives that fall outside the charter’s founding purpose, prioritize accountability and transparency and respect state sovereignty,” Shea said . “We believe the process for selection of such an important position should be purely merit-based, with as wide a pool of candidates as possible.”

“With this in mind, the United States invites candidates from all regional grouping

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